Driver identified in Unit 5 bus crash

Sept. 23--NORMAL -- A 74-year old Normal man has been identified as the driver of a McLean County Unit 5 school bus involved in a three-vehicle crash last week at Veterans and Commerce parkways in Bloomington.

Yahya Khalilallah was driving a bus for First Student carrying junior high and high school students on Sept. 13 when the bus rear-ended a utility trailer being pulled by a sport utility vehicle that was forced into a third vehicle, according to an accident report released by the Bloomington Police Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Pantagraph.

Police previously released initial details of the accident but refused to disclose the driver's name without a public records request.

Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner said the name was withheld because an arrest had not been made. The driver was issued a traffic citation for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

The McLean County sheriff's Department and Normal police routinely release the name of drivers in traffic crashes to the media. Most recently, Normal police provided the name of the driver in a fatal crash where the driver was ticketed but not taken into custody.

The bus struck a 2004 GMC Yukon driven by Bret M. Capella of Springfield that collided with a 2007 Toyota Camry driven by David L. Heid of Goodfield, according to the reports released nine days after the accident.

No students were injured in the accident but some parents took their children to emergency rooms for follow-up, according to the accident report.

A spokesman for First Student said the driver had been with the company for more than two years. He was terminated after the Sept. 13 accident, according to the company.

In addition to the recent traffic citation, Khalilallah was issued four other tickets in McLean County since 2008 for driving more than a year with an expired license, driving on a suspended license, operating without insurance and failure to use a seat belt.

Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel said last week that First Student is obligated under its contract to make sure drivers are trained and qualified when they are hired.

First Student and Unit 5 did not respond to questions Thursday on the qualifications of the driver.

Follow Edith Brady-Lunny on Twitter: @pg_blunny

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